Our current work

The work we are undertaking right now

The difficult local authority funding backdrop continues in many areas of community life and that certainly applies to support for youth clubs and youth-oriented organisations. Analysis by the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Knife Crime APPG’s research found the number of youth centres supported by local authorities had fallen by half since 2011, and a 42 per cent drop in youth service staff over the same period. They also found that the areas suffering the largest cuts to youth spending have seen bigger increases on knife crime. 

There are 32 Surrey Council youth clubs who are currently offering limited open access youth work, we anticipate this number will drop to 15 or below as this youth work is not seen as a priority or statutory responsibility. This in turn will generate an increased need for our services. 

• Working in a targeted way with the county’s Anti-Social Behaviour organisations and communities Info here
• Helping orangisations and communities to find activities for their young people 
• Working to replace provision that is being lost as a result of Surrey County Council refocussing on its statutory obligations
• In total we are currently involved with over 50 potential new projects

“We cannot hope to turn around the knife crime epidemic if we don’t invest in our young people. Every time I speak to young people they say the same thing: they need more positive activities, safe spaces to spend time with friends and programmes to help them grow and develop."

APPGChair Sarah Jones 

Actions not words

Our relationships and reputation within communities are based on what we deliver for club volunteers in times of need. So we’ll always respond by giving it our best shot.

We pride ourselves on providing support that makes a real difference, by making the effort that is often above and beyond expectation – but never by over promising.

Behaving as partners to ours clubs means being purposeful, clear, pragmatic, fair and (perhaps most importantly) realistic – knowing you have to try, being honest if we don’t think it’s working and saying ‘no’ if we don’t think we can help.

• We have had two club launches this year and are close to a further three by the end of August (2019)
• We would be thrilled if we could be involved in 15-20 launches by the summer of 2020
• There are at least 15-20 potential hot spots for youth Anti-Social Behaviour.  SCYP is actively working in 4 or 5 but expects this need to rise sharply in the next year.

The charity, as always, is extremely busy, but we are ready and willing to undertake this work with a proven track record of enthusing and supporting volunteers to build youth clubs in their communities. 

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 *LINK to source

** Home Office 

Written March 2019